AIMS: Maserati Quattroporte Sports GTS MC Sportline

More car games bon, less wood on offer in Maserati's luxury four-door flagship
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Maserati has unveiled a new sports equipment package for the flagship variant of the Quattroporte at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. The Quattroporte Sport GTS MC Sportline dispenses with the woodgrain veneer trim in favour of carbonfibre intended to recall the MC-12, Maserati's contender in the FIA GT Championship.

"The Quattroporte Sport GTS has already been labeled Maserati's iron fist in a velvet glove, thanks to its svelte body wrapping around a high performance drivetrain, a racetrack bred chassis and a soundtrack from the engine that turns heads even quicker than its innate style," Glen Sealey, Maserati's General Manager was quoted as saying in a press release accompanying the debut of the new option pack.

"Carbon Fibre is used extensively in the MC-12 and its use in the Quattroporte MC Sportline transforms the ambience of the Sport GTS."

Carbonfibre trim features extensively throughout the interior when the new MC Sportline pack is specified. The compound material is liberally applied to the dash, centre consoles, doors, door sills, gear shifter, switchgear templates, instrument binnacle and gear-shift paddles. Shift paddles are double the size of the standard GTS's paddles and, finished in carbonfibre as they are, provide a different tactile sensation during use. An exclusive logo appears in the door sill plates and on the aluminium brake pedal.

With the MC Sportline pack the Quattroporte Sport GTS is propelled by the same upgraded engine and sports-oriented automatic transmission fitted to the standard GTS, delivering a top speed of 285km/h and an acceleration time of 5.1 seconds to 100km/h from a standing start. Peak power of 323kW arrives at 7000rpm at full noise, thanks to the valve in the exhaust system to reduce back pressure. Displacing 4.7 litres, the V8 also develops 490Nm of torque.

The automatic transmission, dubbed MC-Auto Shift by Maserati, can operate in four modes, Manual, Manual Sport, Auto and Auto Sport. An electronic shift indicator keeps the driver advised of optimum moments to shift up manually. Auto Sport mode incorporates a launch control facility, which will reduce the acceleration time to 5.1 seconds from 5.3. Both Auto Sport and Manual Sport 'double declutch' on downshifts.

The MC Sportline variant retains all the standard Quattroporte Sport GTS features, including: sports (track-style) suspension with single-rate dampers/stiffer springs/lowered ride height; Brembo performance brake package with six-piston calipers; revised frontal styling comprising deeper grille/revised bumper/new fog lights; revised external mirrors for improved aerodynamics; two different designs of 20-inch alloy wheels

Local delivery of the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GTS MC Sportline will commence from November, with the manufacturer's list price set at $298,800.

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